SPORTS

5 things you might not know about the Music City Bowl

Mike Organ
morgan@tennessean.com


Kentucky's Dicky Lyons Jr. (12) blows a kiss as Wesley Woodyard (16) and Marcus McClinton (2) kiss the Music City Bowl trophy after defeating Clemson 28-20 in 2006.

It has had five other names.

It began as the American General Music City Bowl in 1998 when the game was played at Vanderbilt Stadium while LP Field (then Adelphia Coliseum) was still under construction.

The name changed in 1999 to HomePoint.com Music City Bowl when the home furnishings website took over as the corporate sponsor.

The next two years the game was without a corporate sponsor and was simply known as the Music City Bowl.

In 2002, it became Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl and then changed in 2004 to Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Presented by Bridgestone until 2009.

It has been the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl since 2010.

It had the 14th-highest attendance (52,125) among all bowls in 2013-14

Attendance for bowl games has been on the decline the past four years.

Last year's average attendance for 35 bowls was 48,989, which was down 7.5 percent from an average of 52,961 in 2009-10.

The average attendance for the past four Music City Bowls has been 58,069.

It had an average annual impact on the local economy of $18.9 million over the past four years.

Bowl officials say the game had a $19.6 million impact on the city in 2013, which was a 41 percent increase compared to 2012.

In its 16-year history, the bowl has had nearly $250 million in direct economic impact on the city.

It has a new payout of $5.5 million.

That is up from $3.4 million in 2013.

In the first Music City Bowl (1998), Alabama and Virginia Tech split a total payout of $1.5 million.

A common misconception is that the bowl distributes the payout equally to both teams. That is not the case. Bowl officials do not reveal the amount each team receives.

It is known for having underdogs pull off upsets.

Coach Bobby Johnson gets doused with Gatorade near the end of the 2008 Music City Bowl, a win over Boston College.

The most significant upset came in 2006 when Kentucky, a 10-point underdog, beat Clemson 28-20. Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson was named the MVP after completing 20 of 28 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

Another big upset came in 2002 when Minnesota, a 7-point underdog, beat Arkansas 29-14. The Gophers relied on five field goals by Dan Nystrom, who became the Big Ten's all-time leading scorer during the game.

In 2001, Boston College was a 4-point underdog when it surprised Georgia with a 20-16 victory.

In 2005, Virginia beat Minnesota 34-31 despite being a 6-point underdog,

In 2008, Vanderbilt, making its first appearance in a bowl since 1982, was a 4-point underdog to Boston College and pulled off a 16-14 upset.